Southern Winds to read ‘The Clean House’

Sarah Ruhl’s play The Clean House — about a Brazilian maid who would rather tell jokes than clean house — won lots of acclaim off-Broadway three years ago, and it’s gone on to be produced in regional theaters across the country. Now Southern Winds Theatre is doing a reading of the play June 25 and 26 at Stardust Video.

Here are details:

Southern Winds Theatre presents a staged reading of The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl (current Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright). The reading will take place Friday, June 25 and Saturday, June 26 at Stardust Video and Coffee, 1842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando FL at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $8 and $6 for Students and Seniors. Call 407-341-3495 or 407-623-3393 for information.

The Clean House is a comedy that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005. It traces the life of Lane, a doctor who hires a young woman, Matilde to clean her house. Matilde is an unhappy young Brazilian woman looking for the perfect joke in the midst of her employer’s family dysfunctions. She is sad from losing her parents, who were both comic geniuses, and doesn’t like to clean. Lane’s sister Virginia, a bored housewife, wants to clean the house for Matilde to give herself something meaningful to do. Meanwhile, Charles, Lane’s husband who is also a surgeon, falls madly in love with one of his charismatic patients, Ana. He decides to leave Lane for her.

Lane discovers the true meaning of having a clean house both metaphysically and realistically.